State officials are trying to force Bi-County Solid Waste to replace a synthetic turf that covers a closed portion of the landfill at a cost of $2.2 million because the covering could fail because of gas collecting beneath it.

Bi-County officials are crying foul since the Tennessee Department of Conservation and Environment, which regulates landfill operations statewide, approved the use of the synthetic material in 2013 and signed off on the section closure in October 2016.

During Tuesday’s Bi-County board meeting, members voted that a meeting be set up for body’s executive committee and the commissioner of Environment & Conservation to discuss the matter.

Bi-County Director David Graham told board members TDEC’s attitude shifted earlier this year to “challenge” the synthetic covering, which prevents rainwater from seeping into the decaying garbage. The agency is now demanding it be removed and replaced with a “conventional cover” of dirt by 2022.

Scientific testing

Graham said he consulted the turf vendor to answer some “open and broad questions that weren’t very specific” from TDEC. He also had the product tested and the results were forwarded to TDEC in February.

His response letter said that after reviewing TDEC’s claim, “we don’t feel there is scientific basis to it,” however, TDEC’s position did not change.

TDEC contends in its communications with Graham that methane gas from the decomposing garbage is rising to create significant bubbles, some as much as 20 feet tall, in the membrane. As the gas dissipates, the membrane won’t go back down as before, creating a wrinkle or creases that could cause the synthetic covering to crack and fail.

“That is the position they are taking because it gives them some form of scientific basis,” Graham said. “I will tell you that is really not the reason they are doing that, because scientifically, we have showed them that is not the case.”

He believes TDEC officials don’t care for the aesthetics of the turf; “they just don’t like it.”

Chris Eichelberger, vice president of Technical Marketing at AGRU America, the firm that performed the testing, said in an email such failures from a gas bubble can happen in cover systems that use soil over the membrane, but not so with the product used at the landfill, which does not incorporate soil.

“Landfill gas pressure will not ‘crack’ the membrane as LLDPE (Linear Low Density Polyethylene) has an ability to expand to seven times its original length,” he said. “It is very resilient to the harsh environments landfills can create.”

Bi-County officials also pointed out that even if the membrane should fail, the damage could be cut out and repaired.

Gas collection

Montgomery County Mayor Jim Durrett asked about the methane gas collection at the landfill, which is contracted to a company that converts it into electricity.

Graham said the process has improved under a new operator, PIC Group, which took over recently. He said, however, during the transition, gas collections from wells in the closed section was “less than expected.”

He added no gas bubbles have collected during the last 90 days.

Additionally, Durrett took issue with a TDEC correspondence that indicated part of their evaluation was based on “operation conditions” observed at the landfill over the last five years.

“Do we have some issues? Yes. Are we addressing those issues? Yes. But for the State of Tennessee to put this in writing about operational conditions over the last five years, to me, is very, very unprofessional,” he said. “I have a big, big issue with it.”

Board Chairman Jay Albertia added the comments were odd, especially since recent TDEC letters to the board praised their progress.

“So, it seems they’re talking out of both sides of their mouth,” he said.

Mark Hicks can be reached at 931-212-7626 or on Twitter: @markhicksleaf.